Ashwin best spinner in world cricket currently: Kohli

Nagpur, Nov 27 (IANS) Elated with the series-win over South Africa, India skipper Virat Kohli lauded his team, especially off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who clinched a match-winning 12 wickets in the third Test which ended in a 124-run victory for the home side here on Friday.

“Ashwin is a world-class spinner, he stepped up in a big way for us, maybe the best in the world at the moment,” Kohli said at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

“We expected them to string in a partnership or two. This is what Test cricket is, we need patience with the ball and believing a chance will come. Amit Mishra showed great character in that period.”

Man of the match Ashwin currently is the highest wicket-taker of Test cricket in 2015 with 55 scalps, four ahead of English pacer Stuart Broad.

With the win here, India have now taken a winning lead of 2-0 in the four-match series ahead of New Delhi Test that will be played from December 3 to 7 at the Ferozeshah Kotla. India won in Mohali but the Bengaluru match was washed out due to rain.

India had earlier lost to the Proteas the Twenty20 International as well as the One-Day International (ODI) series which were held ahead of the Tests.

“Very pleasing indeed, especially because they won the ODI and T20I series. Some good cricket in Mohali, Bangalore and here, feels very good. We played some good cricket,” added the India skipper.

The right-handed batsman added that the ‘rank-turner’ was a challenging wicket but it all boiled down to application.

“It was a challenging wicket, the batsmen applied better in Mohali. It is all about application. There are no sorts of excuses on that, our batsmen showed character in three innings,” said the top-order bat.

“Sometimes you have conditions where it is going to be bowler-friendly, chances can be created. Spinners have had an upper hand in the series. Sealing the series was very important, Delhi will be an opportunity for us to be more consistent.”